Refusnik poet Irina Ratushinskaya’s collection “No, I’m not afraid” was written during her four years in a Soviet labor camp. British composer Brian Elias was deeply moved by Ratushinskaya’s sharply drawn imagery of resistance, escape fantasies, and the shattering realities of continued imprisonment, which led him to compose his Five Songs. Elias matches the poet’s words with powerfully gripping music, evoking feelings of confinement along with a palpable, ever-present fear. In fact, I was reminded more than once of Jerry Goldsmith’s score to the film Alien, in its brutal, yet elegant terror. On top of all of this floats the haunting, at times wrenching mezzo-soprano part, sung with vivid emotion and admirable stamina by Catherine Wyn-Rogers.
Laments is the fulfillment of Elias’ long-held desire to write a work about mourning and lamentation. He ultimately chose to set simple folk poetry from Salento, a town in southern Italy. The Poems, which originally were recited by a Prefica, or professional mourner, are in the Grico language, which is primarily “Greek influenced by Italian”. Again, Elias’ visceral musical style clearly evokes the poems’ imagery, which relies on simple objects (a candle, a tree, 12 apples) to convey the grief of loss. The songs gain immeasurably from Mary King’s skillful and penetrating performances of the challenging vocal line. Both singers receive solid support from Tadaaki Otaka (in Laments) and Martyn Brabbins leading the BBC Symphony Orchestra in powerful and convincing renditions of these difficult and far-flung scores, presented in clear, dynamic sound.
